Chapter 310
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 310
Chapter Title: Good Work
Ha Mu-baek was given a room in the Guest Reception Hall by Hyun Gil, and it was an exceptionally fine one.
It was the sort of room typically reserved for sect leaders.
The only superior accommodations were those assigned to the Nine Great Clans or the five major aristocratic families' heads.
But Ha Mu-baek couldn't have cared less about such things.
They didn't even register in his eyes.
He probably wouldn't have noticed even if they'd stuck him in some cramped servant's quarters.
He was solely focused on the energy he'd absorbed last.
The startling surge he'd blocked from entering his dantian and isolated separately.
Ha Mu-baek concentrated on that energy.
'How is this possible...'
He still couldn't comprehend it.
This was an energy impossible to mistake.
Familiar didn't even begin to describe it.
'Yeoui!'
The Infinite Bright Wheel Heart Method.
The internal energy gained from cultivating its Yeoui chapter.
That was exactly it.
How could it be hidden within the Buddhist scriptures of the Scripture Depository Pavilion?
'That's why Hyun Hwang...'
Kept saying he hadn't encountered the Abyss.
Why he'd sensed something familiar in Hyun Hwang's energy.
Perhaps Yeoui was one of those primordial fragments too.
Both Hyun Hwang and Hyun Gil.
They'd drawn energy from the texts stored in the Shaolin Temple and met the Abyss.
Maybe even in some utterly ordinary Buddhist scripture he'd read.
The Thousand Hands Sutra.
Could the Abyss be there as well?
With that thought, he examined the isolated energy in detail, but learned nothing.
'Come to think of it, there was no Muscle and Sinew Transformation Sutra.'
He'd seen the Great Scripture Plates infused with radiant energy in the Scripture Depository Pavilion.
But no trace of the Muscle and Sinew Transformation Sutra remained.
Which made sense.
For it was stored not in the Scripture Depository Pavilion, but in the Patriarchs' Hall.
Of course, Ha Mu-baek had no way of knowing that.
The energy from the Thousand Hands Sutra was purely Yeoui internal energy, no matter how closely he inspected it.
Nothing else.
It was merely a difference in degree from his own internal energy, his master's, and Seol-ran's.
Just that level of variance.
He sought the entity known as the Abyss but found no trace.
In the end, Ha Mu-baek released the isolation, allowing his dantian to absorb the energy.
Ssshhh.
His dantian sucked it in in an instant.
At that moment.
Something in his consciousness seemed to stir, as if trying to lift its head.
As if attempting to convey something.
Crack.
It vanished.
Instead.
His dantian churned violently.
Radiance, Yeoui.
Having absorbed these two massive energies, his dantian seemed ready to shed a layer of shell.
The energy rampaged.
Ha Mu-baek hurriedly assumed the cross-legged position, closed his eyes, and began circulating his energy.
As he stabilized the energy and sank deeper into meditation.
His dantian underwent a single molt, emerging larger and more solid.
Needless to say, his internal energy had grown substantially.
The Yeoui energy simply converted to internal energy and merged into Ha Mu-baek's dantian.
The radiant energy.
Carved out its own domain within his dantian.
The energies of emptiness, darkness, and chaos did the same.
But those three were so faint they scarcely warranted the term "domain."
However.
The emptiness energy showed faint stirrings, perhaps because Ha Mu-baek knew the Emptiness Roaring Heart Formula incantation.
Little by little.
It began to move.
"Is it over?"
Ha Mu-baek rose to his feet.
Opening the door, he found Hyun Gil waiting.
"Did you achieve any breakthroughs?"
He asked with a serene expression.
"Well..."
Ha Mu-baek didn't answer immediately.
"Three days."
He grasped the meaning at once.
He'd thought it was just a short while, but three days had already passed?
"You didn't come in somehow."
"The novice monk bringing meals said Master Ha scared him so much he couldn't enter and just left them outside. When the food sat untouched for two days, the boy reported it to me."
Hyun Gil smiled faintly.
The novice monks handling chores at the Guest Reception Hall were too afraid of Ha Mu-baek to step inside.
What rumors had spread about him, anyway?
"You certainly made your first visit to Shaolin a frightening one."
The time he'd vaulted the wall straight to the abbot's quarters.
A few young novices had hidden in the corners, watching the scene in hushed terror.
And spread the tales to others.
Rumors naturally grew exaggerated in the telling.
Before long, Ha Mu-baek had become a three-headed, six-armed demon yaksha to the Shaolin novices.
Even now, a few huddled in the corner, peeking this way.
Shaved heads gleaming like varnished bowls, distinct monk robes.
Still boyish faces.
Ha Mu-baek glanced their way.
Their eyes met.
"Eek!"
The novices flinched in shock.
Ha Mu-baek gave them a gentle smile.
He meant it to be warm, but to them, it might have seemed a ghastly grin.
Yet with the smile came a soft energy from Ha Mu-baek that enveloped the novices warmly.
"Wha...?"
They felt the strange sensation wrapping their bodies.
Meanwhile, Ha Mu-baek's gaze had shifted back to Hyun Gil.
"And Hyun Hwang?"
"Just three days. Hardly enough time for results."
Ha Mu-baek nodded.
"Whatever happens now, it's no longer my concern."
Hyun Gil chanted a Buddhist invocation and pressed his palms together.
"Amitabha. The Buddha shall watch over him."
Pfft.
Ha Mu-baek chuckled again.
Then he turned away.
"Well, I'm off now."
Ha Mu-baek leaped into the air.
And departed Shaolin just like that.
Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
Deep underground in the ruins of the old Blood Cult lair.
In some earthen cavern even deeper still.
Gae Se-aak, the Blood Cult's current leader immersed in trance cultivation, briefly opened his eyes.
Two pitch-black orbs devoid of whites.
Perfectly blended with the darkness, as if eyeless.
How much time had passed since he'd sat cross-legged in meditation?
He could roughly gauge it by counting meals and excretions.
But he saw no point.
It was a meaningless endeavor.
He needed only to grow stronger.
Strong enough never to burrow into this accursed underground again.
He sensed the day he emerged to the surface would be that day.
He didn't know why.
The technique he was cultivating now seemed to whisper it.
A technique that had failed once before.
Why was he compelled to delve into it so obsessively?
And what of this absurd progress?
He couldn't say.
He simply yielded to instinct and desire, sinking back into meditation.
Darkness oozed from somewhere, endlessly absorbed into his body.
Yet he remained oblivious.
Just cultivating ceaselessly.
The flow of darkness increased accordingly.
At last.
Fwoosh.
One wall of the cavern crumbled.
Beyond lay a space filled only with thick darkness.
This was the first time since arriving that Gae Se-aak had broken his cross-legged pose for anything beyond basic survival, and he staggered toward it on stiff legs.
The space held nothing but dense darkness.
Yet something appeared clearly in Gae Se-aak's eyes.
"Stairs?"
Darkness was flowing from it.
From the deep shadows, even deeper shadows poured out—visible to Gae Se-aak.
Step.
He took one step.
Step.
Another.
Step. Step. Step.
Gae Se-aak descended the stairs, ever downward.
No questions arose about why such a space or staircase existed here.
He simply surrendered to the pull.
"Tahat!"
"Ha!"
"Aaak!!"
Mighty kiais echoed across the training ground.
The Summer Combat Festival had ended, and Dragon Training Pavilion had entered its recess period.
After the summer break, the latter half of the term would begin.
Yet.
The grand training ground bustled with cadets pushing their training amid the sweltering heat.
All from the Fierce Dragon Corps.
At the festival's close.
Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul had announced.
The Fierce Dragon Corps' training period was too short relative to their mission, so to boost survival rates.
There would be no recess this year.
Thus, the Fierce Dragon cadets were all drenched in sweat, immersed in practice.
The instructor in charge of this training was said to be Ha Mu-baek.
But the man himself was absent.
He'd left on business and hadn't returned.
In his place stood Han Seol-bing, naturally.
She scanned the cadets with sharp eyes.
Among them were the second-year Seventh and Twentieth Squads of the Fierce Dragon Corps.
No exemptions by year; recess was canceled for all.
"Good. One hour break."
At Han Seol-bing's declaration, the cadets collapsed where they stood.
It had truly been merciless training.
"Hoo. When's Instructor coming back?"
Dan Mok Un-roe muttered while wiping sweat.
"Who knows... But wouldn't it be better for us if he took his sweet time?"
Dang Jin-san said in a sly tone.
"Wouldn't having Instructor Ha around help us get stronger faster?"
Baek Ri-pyeong's opinion.
Yeon Ha-min and Nak Woo-jin showed no particular reaction.
This conversation had repeated countless times already.
It had started around three days after the festival ended.
Ha Seol-ran simply gazed at the distant sky.
She knew her brother would return safe and sound.
But worry was a sibling's natural right.
Having granted the cadets a brief rest, Han Seol-bing's mind was equally conflicted.
She'd planned to relax, and life at Dragon Training Pavilion wasn't bad.
But recently.
A message from the palace had arrived.
She might need to step away briefly.
'When the hell is this guy planning to show up...'
With Ha Mu-baek gone, she couldn't bring herself to leave easily.
She could hand it off to other instructors.
But without him, she felt compelled to oversee it herself.
Even if recess training consisted solely of shield technique group tactics.
'And this is the most crucial anyway.'
For the Fierce Dragon Corps' level, it was the most vital training for surviving Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
Hence why shield drills filled the entire recess.
"Sigh..."
Han Seol-bing let out an unwitting sigh.
Judging the time, the hour was nearly up.
Training resumption loomed.
As Han Seol-bing rose toward the platform.
Ha Seol-ran, who'd been skyward-gazing, whipped her eyes to one side.
"He's back!"
A quiet exclamation escaped her.
At her words, the Seventh Squad and Joo Woo-myeong's gazes turned to her.
"No way?"
Dan Mok Un-roe asked.
They knew her abilities well enough.
The only one Ha Seol-ran would greet with such joy was one person.
"Yeah. Brother just entered Wu City."
Ha Seol-ran beamed.
She'd sensed it through her energy perception.
That he'd returned unharmed.
'No, he seems even stronger.'
Though Ha Mu-baek masked his energy, Ha Seol-ran's keen senses detected the change.
"Hey. Break's over—cut the chatter."
Han Seol-bing called from the platform to the Fierce Dragon Corps Seventh Squad.
"Sorry! But we heard Instructor returned."
Dang Jin-san shouted back.
Her expression twisted oddly at that.
There was only one "Instructor" whose return they'd announce like that.
Han Seol-bing hastily circulated her energy, extending her perception.
Her usual range covered the grand training ground—a formidable feat.
Ha Mu-baek and Ha Seol-ran were otherworldly in perception.
Wei Ji-gun possessed inhuman strength.
Han Seol-bing's perception expanded further.
Focusing solely on it, it engulfed the entire pavilion and beyond.
The moment it reached its limit.
A familiar presence entered her range.
His energy masked to seem ordinary, but how could she not recognize it?
Definitely Ha Mu-baek.
Han Seol-bing's head snapped around.
Had he sensed her deliberate expansion and entered it on purpose?
Ha Mu-baek kicked off the ground and soared.
Landing in the grand training ground in an instant.
"Good work."
His first words upon seeing Han Seol-bing.
He'd known it was her the moment he felt her perception.
Faced with Ha Mu-baek smiling at her.
Han Seol-bing couldn't decide how to respond.
Should she grit her teeth in anger?
Express joy at his return?
Or prepare to head to the palace?
"Huh? What is it?"
Ha Mu-baek asked at her complex expression.
"Then I'll wrap up here."
With that, Han Seol-bing turned sharply and descended the platform.
"Huh?"
Left alone on the platform, Ha Mu-baek saw the cadets before him assuming shield formation stances.
And unwittingly began the training.
Immediately upon his return.